Separator for storage-battery plates.



C. G. CARPENTER.

SEPARATOR r012 STORAGE BATTEBY PLATES.

irgmoumi: FILED mm: 22,1912.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914,

inst-ran smarts Parana. Prion.

CAMPBELL C. CARPENTER, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW XORKfASSIGNOR TO THE UNITED STATES LIGHT. & HEATING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A"COR POBATION OF MAINE.

sEPARA'roR FOR sToRAeE-iATTERY PLATES.

Applicaton filed June-22. i912. Serial No. 705.236.

Z'oatt whom. it may mam-rm r Be it known that I, Cancer-1L1. C OxnrnN run, a citizen of the United States, residing at Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented new and useful improvements in Separators for Storage-Battery Plates; of which the follow 'panying drawing,

'ing is a full, clear, concise,-and exact description, reference being had to the accomformlng a part of this specification. l My invention relates to separators ,for storage battery'p'lates and to 'a process of making the same. i

The object of'my invention is to provide an ii'nprored separator .which will have greaterresistance to the action of the electrolyte'than heretofore, and which, at the same time, will have the necessary mechani-i cal strength.

0f the "arious kinds ofseparators used in v.the past, those, made of wood are objectionable in that the Wood structure or fibers.

-. break down under chemicalaction, and those made of hard rubber are too fragile. Other substances wh ch have been employed have provedunsatisfactory in thatthey, are'mo'r'e or less attacked by chemical action and break down, both in. structure and composition. p 7 y, Y My improvement contemplates a separa= torhaving a body oflany suitable materiab of the requisite strength and toughness, im-

pregnated or coatedwith rubber to render -the same inert to-clieinicaliaction when im-J .mersed' in.the electrolyte. The body of the separator mayconsist of anyone of a number of materials. I have found that'v'ood is satisfactory, but I contemplate also other materials. For example, celluloseproducts, asbestos, clays, cements, artificial rubbers, cclluloids, or othersuitable material. After the. Wood or other material has been-cut or otherwise'irorked to-the proper size and configuration, it treated \vithrubber and its solvent by immersing it in a bat-h of dis-- solved rubberand allowing it to remain for sucha time that the'pores of the material are thoroughly saturated or impregnated with the'r uboer solution. It is then taken out and dried, and if necessary, the operation is repeated until a coating of rubber of sufficient thickness is obtained to protect the underlying material from chemical action;

Specification of Letters Patent.

ramm d net. 17, 1914..

The saturation process may also be carried extent, depnding upon the manner of vulcanizing, and the. equality'of the rubber. I

it in a rather soft condition. Theseparators are punched full of holes either before or prefer to so vulcanizeythe rubber as to leave afterthe application of the'rubber, in order to facilitate the' free circulation of the electrolyte. The punching-of the holes, hoive ever, is preferably performed before the applicationiof the rubber. i

The; separators may form. For purposes of illustration I have shown three forms in the accompanying drawings. 3 Figures 1 and 2 are a plan View and.

an elevation respectivelyfofa separator- 35 havingribs. on one side only. Figs'S and 4 are a plan wiei'v and an elcvafiond'espectively, of a corrugated separator. Figs. 5 and 6 are a plan view and'an elevationrespectively of a plain flat separator without 9 ribs. p The separator illustrated in,Figs. l and c at to permit free circulationoftheelectrolyte, and provided with spacing ribs Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a modification, in which corrugations 4 take the place of the spacing ribs 3 of Figs. 1 a'nd2.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate i1 simple form in i which the base 1 is notprovided with speck ing means. i

As previously described, the separator body may beonly sutliciently impregnated with the rubber tov completely fill up the natural pores in the ho y, or, by repeated applications of the rubber, a coating 5, completely enveloping the separatorbody,-may be provided As stated, however, I do not A- satisfactory fsolution may be .60 a good commercial grade-of rubthe material has been suit--65v 'm the manner describe-:1, the

ass .me any'idesircd 80 comprises a porous base 1. perforated, as

v by Letters Patent of the United .ona ly, and arranged either on dlesire to limit myself to any particular size or configuration, as the separators, if provided with ribs, may have the same arran ed longitudinally, transversely or diag one side or on both sides of the separator; or the separators may be fluted or undulating; the undulations being in either a vertical or horizontal direction, or arranged at any desired angle. Furthermore, the separators, 'instead of being made of fiat sheets, may be Worked into a cylindrical or rectangular form so as to produce retaining cells for the retention of active material.

The above forms are referred to merely for the purpose of suggesting some of the various forms which the separatormay assume, and accordingly, I do not desire to .limit myself to these forms nor to the details of the process described.

What I claim as new and desire to secure States is:

l. A storage battery separator having an outer layer of rubber vulcanized thereon.

2. A storage battery separator comprising a thin sheet of Wood having a coating of rubber.

3." A storage battery separator comprising a porous supporting element saturated with vulcanized rubber.

4. A-storage battery separator, comprismg a base of porous material, the pores of which are filled with vulcanized rubber.

5. A storage battery separator comprising a sheet or plateof perforated material rotected at all points from the action of the electrolyte by a coating ofvulcanized rubber.

6. A storage battery separator" comprising an outer layer of vulcanized rubber surrounding an inner element more susceptible to the action of the electrolyte than said rubber. e

7. The process of manufacturing battery plate separators which consists in perforatin a sheet of suitable material, immersing said material in a. solution containing rubher to completely cover said material and then vulcanizing said. rubber.

8. The process of manufacturing battery plate separators which consists in perforating a sheet of suitable material, immersing said material in a solution containin rubher to impregnate said material and then vulcanizing said rubber. I

In Witness whereof, I havchereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

CAMPBELL C. CARPENTER. Witnesses: Evuxnounmn MCCARTHY,

FLOYD D. TAYLOR. 

